3 storylines ahead of the Oilers match against the Nashville Predators

The Edmonton Oilers are set to face the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night at their home rink, Rogers Place.

It is their last home game before a brief road trip as they face the Winnipeg Jets on the road Thursday night. They then return home Saturday to face former general manager Ken Holland and the Los Angeles Kings before starting next week on the road for two games.

The starting goalie for Tuesday's game is Connor Ingram who has stepped up admirably with the absence of Tristan Jarry, who has been sidelined with an injury since December. Through four games this season, he has a 2-2-0 record with a 3.28 goals against average and .883 save percentage. Although these numbers do not pop off the page, his first three starts this year he finished with a save percentage above .900 before a blowout loss against the Boston Bruins on New Years Eve.

Heading into this game, there are plenty of interesting storylines and news related to the game.

New Oilers faces old club for first time

Acquired last month, 26 year old left-handed blueliner Spencer Stastney is set to face his old team, the Predators for the first time on Tuesday.

Acquired to replace Brett Kulak who the Oilers dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Stastney has impressed in his brief 11 games as an Oiler, occupying a spot on the third pairing. He has shown some ability to move the puck that provides optimism that he can be a real hidden gem for the Oilers.

When asked about his return, Stasteny referred to it as a 'special one' which shows that he clearly puts a lot of stock in this game. Hopefully the club shows up for him.

Kapanen activated from LTIR, sparks multiple transactions

The Oilers announced on Tuesday that they had activated forward Kasperi Kapanen from long term injured reserve and is expected to make his return to the lineup against the Predators. In a subsequent move, the Oilers placed goaltender Jarry there to clear cap room for him.

Yesterday, the Oilers made an anticipatory move by sending forward Quinn Hutson down to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. It was a controversial move as he has shown chemistry with Oilers forward Isaac Howard and has looked good in his time with the Oilers.

However, given the club and their cap situation, it is best that he receives playing time with the Condors.

Oilers set to scratch two struggling players

Oilers general manager Stan Bowman signed two players over the summer, locking up deadline acquisition Trent Frederic and signing free agent Andrew Mangiapane. They were expected to be two major pieces in the Oilers top-nine as they fight to make the Stanley Cup Finals for a third straight season.

However, things have not panned out with Frederic amassing only three points in 41 games this year and Mangiapane finding himself in the centre of mass trade speculation from multiple NHL insiders.

Their struggles have lead to the club now sitting both in the press box as healthy scratches as head coach Kris Knoblauch tries to find the right line combinations for the Oilers going forward.